Improving workplace culture with Just One Thing

So much writing on organisational health focuses on defining what a healthy culture is and how to achieve it. What if one simple behaviour is the key to building a healthy culture? What could that behaviour be? Gallop found that if leaders focused on giving feedback about someone’s strengths’ they found that ratio of engagement to disengaged at work was 60:1 and 1200 time more effective than ignoring them[i].

So is feedback the key? Yes, though there is more to the issue of building healthy cultures than just feedback. What do people want, culture wise, at work? Is it to feel they belong, a hopeful future, the chance to achieve and being appreciated? Feedback is a form of appreciation. 

Appreciation in a business setting usually means something growing in value. Is that definition very different from what would be desirable in a workplace culture? Wouldn’t you want to work in a place where everyone’s value increased over time to each other and the organisation? What is meant by appreciation in this context? We would suggest that it is about everyone looking for opportunities to recognise effort, skills and behaviours of those around them and making a positive comment about them at every opportunity when observed. Feedback, if it's not specific, is of debatable value as the recipient may not know what the observer liked to be able to do more of it in the future.

Recently, whilst working with a team where we had given them a method of giving effective feedback we asked a week later how they got on. Most reported they had been surprised and delighted by the response the recipient had shown for the spoken appreciation and this response had made them feel good so both parties benefitted. This encouraged them to do more of it. One recounted how they complemented the chair after a meeting on how well they thought the chair had handled a difficult issue to get a positive outcome and how pleased the chair was to hear this.

What was the model they found worked well for showing appreciation? It is the model Dr Charlie Pellerin developed for his 4-D System[ii] for building strong teams. He stated that effective appreciation has several parts. If it is to work well it should be authentic. So only given when genuinely meant, not a platitude. It should be prompt, given as soon as it can be after the event, so it is still fresh in both parties’ minds. The appreciation should be proportionate to the behaviour, it need not be too effusive or detailed. Specifically, give a detail of what you observed and liked so it is clear and obvious to the recipient what they did you liked. ‘Good job’ isn’t very specific, whereas ‘a great report, clear logical and succinct’ is precise.

These four elements are common to most models of feedback. What differentiates this model is encouraging people to practice giving appreciation at every opportunity, so it becomes a habit for everyone in a team. When this occurs as a matter of habit the culture is one of support and appreciation in which all benefit. This then helps drive increased performance across all areas and so an increase in value both in human and output terms.

Dr Pellerin uses the acronym HAPPS to describe the model. Habitual, Authentic, Promptly, Proportionately & Specifically.

Whist there are many factors that need to be addressed to build a healthy culture, making appreciation a regular habit is a great place to start as it makes people valued and included. It makes the giver more aware of what is happening around them and how people relate to each other. It takes very little time and if using the HAPPS model adds real value.

[i] Nine Lies about work. Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall. Harvard Business Review Press

[ii] How NASA Builds Teams. Charles J Pellerin. Pub: John Wiley and Sons Inc.